Program Note

The Dream Deferred was commissioned by the activist orchestra, The Dream Unfinished for their 2017 season “Raise Your Hand,” which draws attention to the school-to-prison pipeline. The title of the work and its movements are inspired by the Langston Hughes poem “Harlem” in which he asks, “What happens to a dream deferred?”

The school-to-prison pipeline is a prime example of a dream deferred. Young children of color, especially Black and Latino males, are promised a good education, thus enabling them to succeed in society. Instead, they are often labeled as “aggressive,” “thugs,” and “super-predators,” are subject to disproportionate policing of their communities as their white schoolmates, and receive harsher sentencing as well. Thus the dream of “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” is deferred and denied.

Throughout the poem, Hughes asks various questions concerning the fate of the dream deferred: “does it dry up,” “or fester like a sore,” “or crust and sugar over,” “or does it explode?” This angry explosion of frustration and pain begins the work, while the despair of the dried up dream ends it.

Melodies written by students of the Corona Youth Music Project, UpBeat NYC, Washington Heights Inwood Music Project, and the Youth Orchestra of St. Luke's were incorporated into this work.

— Evan Williams

Reproduction Notice:This program note may be freely reproduced in concert programs, provided that proper credit is given to the composer.